Team USA right now is a basketball version of The Amazing Race. Thirteen players set out on the same flight for Madrid, Spain, where they had to complete tasks against Lithuania and Spain. Having successfully finished those, it is on to Greece where a new task awaits them.

In Greece, somebody is going to be last to the mat. Phil is going to be standing there with Mike Krzyzewski and some guy dressed like Socrates who welcomes them to Greece. Then it happens. “I’m sorry, you’re the last player to arrive. I’m sorry to tell you, you have been eliminated from Team USA.”

There are 13 players on the Team USA roster, only 12 can go to the World Championships. There is one more very hard cut to make.

Friday, the smart money said Russell Westbrook and his Mohawk were headed back to the States. Then the USA looked sluggish against Lithuania and it was Westbrook’s speed and game that pushed the USA back to a tempo it liked. The USA won because of him. Hard to cut him.

Stephen Curry has played sparing minutes since turning an ankle, maybe he goes. Except that he is the best pure shooter on the squad. Some team is going to pack the 2-3 zone down against the USA and dare them to win with jumpers (actually, a lot of teams are) and you’re going to want your best shooter around.

Maybe Eric Gordon goes. Except he has done nothing but impress. He can shoot the three and he is the strongest guard penetrating the lane behind Chauncey Billups (Derrick Rose can take the physicality, too, but Gordon is a physical beast). The coaching staff loves him, those guys almost never get cut.

Some have suggested Kevin Love goes, but that is lunacy. First, you need him along the already-thin USA front line. His minutes have been down after he got kicked in the calf a few games back, but this is a big man who can rebound, hit the midrange and is the best outlet passer on a team that wants to run. You do not cut him. The same way you can’t cut Tyson Chandler and were reluctant to let JaVale McGee go.

The problem for Krzyzewski is that there are no good options – anyone you cut hurts you in some way. Despite his great showing against Lithuania it could still be Westbrook. He might be my choice still – what he brings pushing the pace is fantastic but may be a skill most easily duplicated. Which may not seem fair. But the game isn’t always fair. This is Amazing Race – you are always just one bad taxi driver away from going home.

Where’s the Cavaliers down by one point with nine seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Rodney Hood took it upon himself to take what he thought would be the last shot for Cleveland. Hood danced around the defense before finally taking a jumper from the free-throw line, which bounced softly off the rim.

Nance, battling down low for the rebound, worked his way free for a tip-in as time expired.

What counts as collusion these days in the NBA? What counts as tampering? It’s hard to say, but the league office takes a look at each and every comment like the one LeBron James made on Tuesday about New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis.

Speaking to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, James said it would be incredible if Davis were somehow able to make his way onto the Los Angeles Lakers. This slots into the rumor around the NBA that LA is stockpiling its young core to be able to trade for a player like Davis.

“That would be amazing,” James told ESPN on Tuesday before the Lakers’ 115-110 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. “That would be amazing, like, duh. That would be incredible.”

There’s nothing much here that LeBron said that isn’t factual. Davis is a 5-time All-Star and one of the best players in the NBA, a unicorn not unlike LeBron himself.

The NBA is certainly hoping that the Lakers can get their act together and put a powerhouse around James at Staples Center. How he does it is up for debate, although making comments about current players probably isn’t the best idea. James has been able to keep his mouth shut for the most part, but perhaps talk of Davis is just too tempting.

But was Harden called for a travel by officials? No. At least, not at first.

Video of Harden’s ridiculous shuffle was circulated on social media after the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 102-97. Harden was asked about the move by media, and said that he wasn’t going to tell on himself, which is fair enough.

On Tuesday the official NBA referee Twitter page decided to comment on the play at hand, admitting that they had made a mistake and had missed a travel.

Via Twitter:

The offensive player gathers the ball while on his right foot. He then takes a step with his left foot (step 1) into a hop step, landing first with his right foot (step 2) and then illegally with his left (step 3). We missed this one – it is a traveling violation. https://t.co/BqMAoZHgIu

Having a Twitter account hasn’t always worked out for the NBRA. Their explanations of what many would consider to be violations have often stood in the face of common sense. To that end, they’ve sometimes been mocked on social media, which is against their goal of having the social channel in the first place. But this play with Harden was a particular sore subject with fans around the league, and it was right of them in to make a comment.

LeBron James is seemingly and ageless wonder. The Los Angeles Lakers forward is still one of the most athletic players to ever grace an NBA court, and despite his obvious physical decline, that’s not to say he’s a slouch out there. He’s not exactly late-career Boris Diaw just yet.

But LeBron is now 34 years old, and as such there are other players on the floor with him at any given time that have a bit more bounce than The King. James found that out the hard way on Tuesday night as the Lakers took on the Brooklyn Nets in New York.

During a play early in the first quarter, James drove to the basket only to be rejected by Brooklyn’s Jarrett Allen at the rim.